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A factory producing a color TV during the 1970s, when networks in Korea still broadcast in black and white, but factories made color TVs for export.
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¡°People say a small bagful of these little things is worth tens of thousands of dollars. But we can still only export cotton textiles. Dr. Kim, I want to develop the electronics industry in Korea, and I need your help.¡± Thus president Park Chung-hee, putting a transistor on a table. Park had invited Kim Wan-hee, then electrical engineering professor at Columbia University, to Cheong Wa Dae in September 1967, to ask for his advice. Kim traveled around the world to work on a report, and finally submitted a research paper for the development of the electronics industry in Korea on Aug. 1, 1968.
¡°It is too late to develop technology on our own, so it is imperative that we introduce advanced technology from other countries, and develop export products on our own,¡± he wrote. ¡°Development should be done over a short period with full support from the government at a national level.¡± The next day, in an article titled ¡°President Approves Comprehensive Five-Year Plan to Develop Electronics Industry,¡± the Chosun Ilbo wrote about the report in detail.
And Korea¡¯s electronics industry began to grow rapidly. Gold Star, currently LG Electronics, which started producing TVs in 1966, led the industry. Samsung, badly hit by a saccharin smuggling incident, set up Samsung Electric Industries, today¡¯s Samsung Electronics, in January 1969, and joined the competition. Korea¡¯s electronics export, which had been a mere US$19.5 million in 1968, surpassed US$1 billion in 1976. Televisions, radios, integrated circuits, condensers, recording devices and cathode-ray tubes were the main export products. In 1974, Korea Semiconductor was established, laying the groundwork for Korea¡¯s prosperous future in the field.
Touring the first electronics industry expo in Korea in 1972, Park was struck by another concern. Many doubted the chance of the electronics industry succeeding. ¡°What if the fad is short-lived and the companies are unable to sell their products?¡± Park asked. But Kim Ki-hyung, the minister of science and technology, reassured him, saying the electronics industry will continue to develop, ¡°because it is a manifestation of brain activity through electronic gadgets. In a few years¡¯ time, you will be able to watch mayors and governors taking a nap in their office from Cheong Wa Dae.¡±
¡°The global electronics industry was like a train ready to depart in the late 1960s,¡± Kim Wan-hee was to recall later. ¡°The train raced faster and faster throughout the 1970s, and by that time, it was virtually impossible for developing countries to catch up. We had jumped on the last car of the train.¡±
(englishnews@chosun.com )
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